Battletech: The Ghost Who Walks (Battletech Isekai)

[Bofors40mm]

i will note artu does have that stupidly valueable map on the locations of a good amount of SL facilites in the periphery

 

[Imperator Pax]

i will note artu does have that stupidly valueable map on the locations of a good amount of SL facilites in the periphery

Click to shrink...

Yes, thats potentially why we're going the route of doing Artu sooner rather than waiting for March of 3025

Spoiler: Of canonical castle outposts

It is probably CID and given that map's existence, probably could tell Gene and Co where to link into the Terran Shadow Network and look for wherever the Tripitz was coming from or supposed to be going to

 

[Bofors40mm]

Yes, thats potentially why we're going the route of doing Artu sooner rather than waiting for March of 3025

Spoiler: Of canonical castle outposts

It is probably CID and given that map's existence, probably could tell Gene and Co where to link into the Terran Shadow Network and look for wherever the Tripitz was coming from or supposed to be going to

Click to shrink...

And also probably a few other sites as well. Like probably some sites which can be used to grow the unit and beef up the peripheries defenses against pirates and the like. Because obviously some of those sites will need the permission of the locals to access without getting into a fire fight with the armed forces of a nation

 

[Imperator Pax]

And also probably a few other sites as well. Like probably some sites which can be used to grow the unit and beef up the peripheries defenses against pirates and the like. Because obviously some of those sites will need the permission of the locals to access without getting into a fire fight with the armed forces of a nation

Click to shrink...

... this is true, but its also ironic that the next extras segment is the two part 'Helm' Segment, mind you its very abridged segment but its what i'll be posting this weekend.

It is not nominally canon, its an extras snippet set nominally in 3023 but its one possible keyhole picture of what might happen.

Gene: "I need to borrow the Eridani, and Blue Stars."
Yvonne: "You need to borrow what?"

--
cue Holovid 'historical' / propaganda films crediting Yvonne as Prince's Champion with recovering all the material from under the Marik's noses to potentially fight the Wolf's dragoons (now in Combine service)

 

[Bofors40mm]

That reminds me...I wonder how the WD are doing without Blackwell allowed to supply them while working for the combine

 

[Imperator Pax]

[Branch 3023]​

"You want to borrow what?"
3023 Helm
ft Blue Star Irregulars and The Eridani Light Horse
​

--
Everything from the popular media to the history books would go on to speculate, to regurgitate what would become the story in popular culture 'the pop history' view that this was a move undertaken as a response to the Dragoons breaking 'tradition' and going to work for the Draconis Combine. That was how people thought of it. It was the popular conception.

That was complete poppycock of course. The truth was that the raid into the league was a matter of planning. It wasn't as if the Field Marshal could just magically spare the Eridani or the Blue Stars on short notice... it had taken time to put things in order.

... and that the pop history story was aggrandizing to the Dragoons ego probably had meant that they'd spread the story around... for Helm in 3023 there was no explanation as the JumpShips appeared in system using AI derived jump calculations to appear without warning.

Two months of travel time not counting the staging and prep work for what they were doing... but they were on station now... about to change the galaxy... and in more ways than one. Gene hovered over the holographic image... the League era map looked nothing like the modern planet... because in a temp tantrum at being denied SLDF resources Minoru Kurita had nuked the planet's major population centers.

The more and more he saw in the comparisons of what the Star League had looked like side by side with the consequences of the first succession war the more and more damning things became regarding Kerensky's exodus. Combine Nuclear weapons had in 2788 rained down on the city of Freeport and the other settlements of note ... but with the maps side by side... and the processing power available.

"Boss," His thoughts were interrupted. "The Light Horse are deployed outside of the capital."

"You mean Kerston's Eridani or the Blue Stars?" He queried waiting for the feed connections that should start populating his own terminal.

"Right," Septim blinked, "Forgot, General Kerston and the Eridani have the Marik Garrison hemmed in." They had refused to surrender, but it didn't matter in the face of both overwhelming ground and orbital supremacy.

They couldn't hold the planet. That wouldn't have been stupid. But when they left Gene was loath to leave a structurally intact Castle Brian for the League to put into service even if they had time to empty it out... the facility would have drones... but given its relatively late construction, and the base's evolution it was unlikely that it had been constructed with a Hegemony AI in it... it was too far from Hegemony space. Helm was deep in Marik space during the League's era... but in the present day not so much. Two jump to the Lyran world of Solaris if they needed to go that route, or make directly back to the domain of house davion with the cargo.

"I understand, we'll proceed as we have discussed." He hoped that was reassuring.

It would have been better if the Marik units had simply surrendered. Not that that was the sole reason for bringing both units for this. If Minoru had really thrown his genocidal tantrum because he'd been denied the depot, and that depot was still intact and here... then it would settle one part of what had been discussed on Northwind a few years earlier.

They would have the materiel to rebuild the 3rd​ RCT and the Blue Star Irregulars back to Star League era strength, and to their proper specifications if that was what Kerston and his counterpart decided to do. That would greatly simplify operations against the Draconis Combine in the future... and that much materiel being acquired would also obfuscate the recovery of other materiel from Helm.

Gene knew in his gut that they were gambling... but the rebuilding of the Eridani, and for that matter the Blue Star irregulars... formations who had the manpower to make use of that volume of material, would permit House Davion to press attacks against the Combine. The Federated Suns weren't aiming at destroying the other successor state, but they could keep them off balance, and weaken them strategically... and better secure for the peace and probably the unification that was coming with the Lyran Commonwealth. Not that he'd been officially told that those talks were going on, not in so many words.

Minutes passed. Icons changed in the holographic bubble of the Vermillion river valley. One of Kerston's staff in the regimental command lance was in a ... what was now considered a LosTech BattleMaster relaying data to them. The defenders weren't prepared for this, but they were fighting. The Eridani were feinting, dancing in and out of sensor contact along the front, and pressing probing hovercraft strikes with lrms against the defenders flanks just to be a nuisance.

He was confident that Kerston knew what he was doing the Eridani were aimed at keeping the enemy off balance, and focused on them. The Free Worlds League militia.... which was not to be confused with the Marik Militia which was a command within the FWLM were never going to hold a line against them.

Kerston was only indulging them to allow the Irregulars to swing wide and into their back end aiming at taking the governor and his staff and associated personnel in the modern capital of Helmsdown. Of course if the governor was smart he'd had to have figured that this kind of raid wouldn't have been launched with some kind of reason... especially by nominally Davion troops, mercenaries who by most standards might as well have been Davion house troops at that if they could positively identify the Blue Stars.

To that end they needed to secure planetary leadership and order the populace to stand down. Preferably demobilize any Free worlds military or intelligence apparatus and go from there. In their favor Helm was a tiny world in terms of overall population. The cold bitterly dry planet had a population comparable to a good size city on a proper planet... but again that was that was the combine's fault. Minoru Kurita's fault directly beyond just his starting the succession wars.

There was a treble of white noise and pixels from one of the projectors. "What is it Dante?"

"I have completed securing the HPG via remote. Running diagnostics now."

Gene blinked. He hadn't expected that the AI could do that. "I didn't realize that was an option, you couldn't have optioned that on Northwind?"

"On northwind I did not have the advantage of a naval commsuite and SDS drones to to access unsecured or improperly configured terminals." That both explained it, and raised more questions... Northwind's original HPG had been destroyed during the Amaris crisis and had been rebuilt during the lead up to the first succession as he understood it... Minoru Kurita's nuclear fusillade had probably destroyed the original HPG alongside the capital of the planet of the time. "However that brings us to additional operational matters."

Displays minimized, as the AI literally went and took control of the system, which was mildly annoying... up until Gene realized he was staring at the remote returns for tactical nuclear weapon stockpiles. "God in heaven." He hissed.

They had discussed the possibility that VII Corp hadn't necessarily pulled all of the nukes out of the bunkers... but there was a difference between that theory and that Quartermaster Corp having so many present. "There would seem to have been either an incipient case of stupidity or treason that managed to last the entire crisis. The Nagayan Castle Facility's Commanding officer, and then his successor a Major Keeler refused to authorize release of materiel to VII corp without precise documentation authorizing the release from the emergency stockpile."

.... had to love bureaucracy.

On the other hand if Keeler had prevented Minoru from acquiring those nuclear weapons then he had potentially made it at least that much harder for the coordinator to kill more people. He flipped a switch, and waited for the continuing tally of depot materiel to continue. "General."

"Colonel, is there a problem?"

... "Quiver full. Quiver Full." He replied, then "We are going to be here a while, sir."

Kerston did not immediately reply... and it occurred to him that indicating that a full nuclear complement, or near enough, was present was not something that in the third succession war probably included. Then there was the fact this wasn't some derelict age of war capital ship that happened to have been found fifty sixty years after being lost and just happened to have a full payload of capital missiles sitting aboard. This was an SLDF Castle Brian and the previous era of facilities built on this planet that had been officially known about but not actually disclosed to the general knowledge base.

Emergencies Only indeed.

He blew out a breath and shook his head.

"Beacon is lit."

"Take us in on the guide path," He didn't tell the ship's captain to keep the bird steady as they came in. If there were nukes down there chances were there were drones, and anti aircraft turrets. The last thing he wanted was for some automated system to fling a capital missile at the Sam Houston, nuclear or otherwise.

Once they were ground side they were going to bring the transport system online and light the beacon to bring all core systems online ahead of bringing in the massive cargo transports which would be used to load the contents here.

 

[Imperator Pax]

That reminds me...I wonder how the WD are doing without Blackwell allowed to supply them while working for the combine

Click to shrink...

My impression from canon is that the dragoons ... hell the Combine and FedSuns were still actively trading with each other during the 3rd succession war so I honestly don't know.

Like if you look through some of the older books there are components for weapons and equipment that go back and forth across the border despite the DC and FS shooting at one another to the point of being very silly. Like I could understand that being a thing when there is a supranational body like the Star League that could keep trade running (given how silly the Star League was) but we're talking well beyond the scope of rubber for glass trading between belligerents. So I really don't know, because in canon the implication of the 31st century is that despite fighting each other theye two nations are still actively trading with one another publicly (this isn't smuggling, or illicit trade, this is selling for example full on blue water surface vessels)

 

[Imperator Pax]

[3023 Branch]​

3023 Helm ft Blue Star Irregulars and The Eridani Light Horse
AKA "You want to borrow what?"
Part 1 (b)​

The massive doors hadn't actually creaked, what they were actually hearing was the echo of the speakers through the cavernous chamber, which probably just played right into imagination all the same, "Why are they always creepy like this?"

"Because they've been empty for two hundred years?" Bahar snarked back at Chang's question.

To be fair this was far from the worst, but Bahar had gotten to see New Dallas and a few other complexes over the last three years, and it was hard not to agree with the depressing emptiness these mega structures were without people.

The Mammoth class spheroid Dropship aptly named the Lucrehulk had been the first cargo mover to touch down. There were powered exoskeleton lifters being moved to staging points, but they hadn't brought them further inside.

Gene bent down and inspected the console. There was a fine layer of dust on it, which was atypical, normally the atmospherics and air filters should have created enough air flow that the cleaning cycle should have actually sucked all the dust out like some kind of giant vacuum motor. At the very least it shouldn't have been piling on important systems like consoles. With no people here, that probably meant that there was probably an overgrown hydroponics facility somewhere in the Castle that had left a lot of dead plant matter laying around.

He wondered if they'd find a bunch of squirrels and rotten potatoes further inside the castle. He almost queried Dante if there was anything more to report while he waited for the Terminal to finish booting. He had questions, but it was entirely possible that the Quartermasters corp had been obstinate and a stickler for rules procedure and their possessiveness of their own domain that that they had acted like that to VII Corp for no other reason than they could.

It would have been nice if there had been some higher justification to behold, but he doubted... and if there was some other reason besides stupidity, it could have just as well been treason... which wasn't a great thought. There was no sign of active defenses though. The console accepted his input credentials and confirmed link to a Royal Command directed override that in theory should have bypassed all security measures...

... he worked through the steps in his mind. They needed to get to the command center, insure they had operational control of the facility. Make sure there were no surprises waiting for them. This depot was huge. They didn't need any more surprises besides the nukes. The nukes were plenty. Make sure there were no booby traps, disable any facility contingencies, self destructs, or such, then send eod in to make sure no one could set them off. Double check the fusion reactor... they were going to be here a while.

The main doors opened deeper into the mountain facility going easily another klick deeper underground at a slight incline large tram tracks continuing down the path. The hum of lights brought with it illumination that filled the heavy gray utilitarian transport tunnel. By the time the Nagayan facility had begun construction DOME was no longer the principle party involved, instead it had been constructed by the 42nd​ Engineering Brigade, and primarily as a supply depot rather than the previous generation of Castles Brian constructed on behalf of the Terran Hegemony. The facility had been less than two decades old at the time of the Amaris crisis, construction having begun in 2743.

Those details had only been paper facts before, but now that he as here, and they were inside the facility and the mainframe he was worried whether that construction might mean the self destruct was different than was typical to older Castles.

A chirp in his suits integrated communications system signaled a channel connection. Helm had definitely had Star League similar transport infrastructure, but that was no surprise. If Elidere then certainly here would have. The underground tunnels were a potential security vulnerability... but once they had the command center they'd check in with Kerston, and also the Blue Stars.

Septim was already moving to join him, and echoed his own silent thoughts "I know you said it was going to be big, but, this place is huge."

Even that was an understatement.

He had to remind himself that Fort ST George had been an outpost. That N001 had been built centuries before Nagayan... and of course Fort St George while newer was a smaller Terran Outpost Castle not a Brian. Whether Tristan's facility could really have been said to have a more narrow mission focus, that was harder...

"Yeah no kidding." Chang agreed, "No wonder the Combine tried to take this place."

Well it wasn't like the Combine wasn't already angry at them.... if this had been the Star League era Gene would have expected that he'd have just had to contend with challenges from Ronin coming from different Dojos looking to make a name... but if this had been the star league there would have been little things like free travel, and the dueling would have been somewhat officially regulated, even as officially both governments would have tsked and wagged their fingers that amounted to 'oh boys will be boys'... never mind that in such a case they were fighting with giant robots.

Mech scale slap fights could be tolerated as long as there was minimum civilian collateral after all.

"Commander I have the facility drones now online." Dante's voice announced over his radio.

He sighed, "Acknowledged." The Hegemony AI didn't elaborate further and they continued to follow the path down from the Nagayan port facility until they found the tram that was marked to take them to the Headquarters. They had to summon a car, which was a little worrying, that took about forty minutes to get one... but it dutifully carried them down a mag tube into the heart of the facility. After that it was a matter of booting up computers and relaying data to the 3rd​ RCT.

It would be up to the Brevet General whether or not he chose to make use of the transport tunnels to further maneuver around the remains of the Marik 'Mech Battalion or their armored support. Gene unslung the star league era computer and started the process on his end. Within a few minutes they'd have a handle on command and control.

It wasn't what the castle brian had been designed for... ironically they were the invaders and it was a marik world... but they had the castle and the orbital high ground and the mariks didn't. Gene wasn't going to complain about the situation.

The Helmsdown HPG Station had been built after Minoru's temper tantrum, and the security feeds from within the facility showed robed adepts had started running around like chickens with their heads cut off. "What am I looking at Dante?"

"I believe they are attempting to pray away the problem." The AI drawled. "A full diagnostic is currently running." The Terran thinking machine didn't indicate what it had planned beyond that but Dante had consistently evaluated that wide portions of the SLCOMNET, and the Shadow Network had been scuttled intentionally during the Amaris Crisis to prevent as many HPGs as possible from falling into enemy hands. He went so far as to speculate that the Ministry of Communications had probably attempted to spike the manufacturing facilities in the hegemony where possible, or failing that Royal Command had attempted to do so before presumably being countermanded by Kerensky.

At no point had the order been given to simply burn the network out, which meant that the thinking was the Hegemony could have been saved, and the usurper defeated... but then at the same time the Black Watch final orders had been to order Kerensky to attack immediately. To attack release the SDS drones from their restrictions and to destroy the invaders.

Instead Kerensky seemed to have never gotten that message, and eventually the SDS system had been turned to Amaris's ends by the control network to paint SLDF ships as hostile leading to a much longer much more devastating campaign.

... but all of that had very little to do with this facility. "I've got EOD teams sweeping the facility, and a senior fusion tech down in the main reactor making sure its not rigged to blow."

"It would be a simple matter, I've evaluated the structural diagram of the facility, this entire facility is designed to flood after the self destruct goes off, modifications seem to have been made after Kerensky's Exodus but nothing that can't be undone."

"Safety hazard?"

"Designed to prevent exterior meddling, no doubt a last ditch precaution by the remaining command staff." They'd been clearly hoping someone presumably the right someone's would come and employ the facility but couldn't be sure that would be the case... so Keeler had taken precautions. He'd known as much, it was hard to parse the memories some times... he'd known it would have been a bad idea to try and compromise the walls, but he didn't need to do that because he'd had the data needed to turn the beacons on and come in through the port like a civilized person. After all this was a depot designed to move and resupply major League military assets in the event of an emergency the onload off load gantries were designed to make reloading entire brigades possible.

"'Wasps?"

"Online and waiting tasking orders."

"Any anomalies?"

"Diagnostics came back clean." Presumably they hadn't been running then. "Launch, conduct strike packages per General Kerston's request. Once the planet is secure initiate a no fly zone."

"Understood." Gene looked at the sensor feeds, and then to the facility's own data. There was some kind of Geothermal system built in, not a surprise, but also what from the data indicators looked like it was ... flood control.

... right they had bottled up a whole sea. It was visible on the old maps of the planet but none of the modern ones... but people still knew it was a dry sea bed... they just assumed the water... he didn't know what the natives assumed... maybe that it had been diverted by the Kuritan nuclear attack, or natural causes... not the Star League's engineers, but certainly DOME had done that to make Brians, and the engineering brigade had in the 2740s. That was a lot of water... they were going to need to get those pumps active even if just enough to make it safe to work. Two hundred years of b eing left alone...

In the mean time two more Mammoth DropShips had landed at the port. They had a public story to sell after all. The Eridani and Blue Stars would be rebuilt to league standards courtesy of the Quartermaster corps unwillingness to obey VII corp's requisition orders... and well Shepherd was already filling out Royal Command authorization forms to make sure the automated machinery would open all the right doors.

The rest of the material well, he had to take some of it back just for the Davions after all that was the story. Brigades worth of material. They certainly weren't going to advertise the nukes. The Duke of Robinson had mentioned something about wanting to stand up BattleMech lines, and there was an SLDF division that had been based on Kestrel.

"Commander I am inside the base archives, there are earmarked reports, and copies of events leading to the bombardment," One thing at a time... or he wanted to reply, but he could have the techs make copies of the core.

--
Notes: Alright and then there is another one after this I'll probably put up some time in the future with the delivery of the material, both the public offload and then the more valuable core delivery to House Davion and the release to the Lyran commonwealth.

This is a very abridged potentially non canon version of events just a glimpse of sorts special with the follow on detailing some of the public reaction to reinforcing the anti Combine frontline at the end of the 3rd​ succession war, as well as hinting at the issues on the Capellan front. Again in theory this branch takes place in 3023, and of course to reiterate Dante's official position is that the Hegemony / the star league effectively was at war with the Combine, and that material from league caches should as a priority be employed against the Combine or to support anti combine actions. Thats of course without even knowing how coocoo for coco puffs the clans are.

However next week we will resume main timeline and the Highland Faire

 

[Imperator Pax]

Teaser: Son of Sam
Conclusion: Unknown Date
Somewhere in the Rimward Periphery​

A bestial roar echoed in his ears over the comms. Metal tearing from metal. The Rampage Assault mech was not the first he had destroyed today. Nor was he the only one who had destroyed the pride of the rim World Republic's indigenous Mech designs. Blue shark adorned mechs lay scattered broken. White gray tanks advanced through a shattered ash strewn urban environment.

Hammer continued to move forward. The Armored Battalion's Fury and Alacorns rolling to drive ferric tungsten alloy gauss slugs into any fusion signatures north of what once had been the MSR running through the city center. Claymore was screening their left flank as they came into position, but Bardiche was a painful eight mikes behind the main thrust of the regiment.

He grit his teeth against the thrum of a supersonic flyby. The ASF wing coming over was low low.

RimWorld ... insane genocidal madmen claiming to be loyal to a long dead baathist regime and to its psychopathic lunatic murderous dynastic heir had shattered a reservoir pouring literally millions of gallons of water down into the city potentially killing tens of thousands, and certainly displacing hundreds of thousands. The action had diverted half of the unit's primary mech strike force putting them behind schedule and creating serious operational headaches that they were trying to address on the fly.

Azami engineers were working now to put bridge laying equipment over still painfully turbulent water water ways churned out by the sudden deluge. Their desperation was put forward by the company's air power executed close air support to drive machines back that had been built to fill the ranks of the hidden army in the 28th​ century.

The handshake from the Atlas twisted him from link he had with his mind machine interface that was allowing him to dance through the narrow one way streets. There were few things that could do that from his degree of synchronization through the neurohelmet. Very few things. The signal was a data packet relayed through the Atlas of inbound telemetry and a priority HAF flagged packet at that.

It was if it needed to have some description synesthesia like. The importance of the message coded specifically in a pattern that would alert him of incoming critical needs information. Its originating point from Assault DropShip Hedwig as she burned at high Gee in orbit of the planet. Her gun telemetry showing arriving JumpShips at Pirate point in orbit.

They weren't expecting reinforcements.

The idea of reinforcements was kind of laughable.

The Azami of Alamut were too far away. The Azami colony might have received word of course confirm that a descendant of Stefan Amaris had been confirmed, that he was engaged in active actions of attempted conquest and bloodshed, but that news could not have potentially reached them quickly enough for enough time to put a major strike package together.

The Taurians sending aid was laughable. He wasn't expecting Canopian aid , not with a serious potential threat already levelled against their capital and a likely highly probable threat against Luxen. The idea that one of the great houses would be engaged? Highly unlikely.

The Eridani were back in Davion space.

There was no one Shepherd expected to come to help them. Hedwig agreed. The DropShip was banking hard and prepared to launch if need be a frontal assault if these were Rim World reinforcements. If needed to prevent a Rim World nuclear strike aimed at forces that were in all respects to the opinion of the SDS AIs Hegemony forces engaged in a civilian population center... because that was of course the exact thing to expect. That was demonstrated Rim World doctrine in the 28th​ century, and Stefan Amaris's what ever generation descendant had been stomping around having decided it was war crimes o'clock had done nothing to dissuade such an assessment.

He executed the tactical breathing exercise to decompress and parse the mentally colored data. "Unknowns at pirate point." He said his voice going over the channel to the rest of the unit... he prepared to order all of their air cover to retask, to pull them off the front refuel and rearm and aim towards the new force in the skies above the planet now. "Eyes on primary target." Ordinarily... his headquarters command company would have fielded as a combined arms special warfare unit one that could have neatly been encapsulated and self deployable from the Sam Houston.

Or at least that was the internal company pitch... the truth was while that was the ideal it had proven very very limited in its scope.... that was to say in terms of actual operation use in the field. He had excellent back for the fight at hand, but the HQ unit was split off. The Light vehicles, the absurdly expensive omni vehicles were behind the new river, on the other side of the highway besides, the Fury tanks were paired up with the Chaparrals providing computational firing data for the regimental artillery more broadly. In other words they weren't in the thick of it... of course that was why the chapparals were being employed not LRM carriers that would have needed to be closer to the front.

He swung and brought the PPCs to bear on a target of opportunity. The mech's cockpit in his reticle disappeared as man made ball lightning zipped through it's weakened structure. Not only were they spread out, the extended firefight was taxing even his machine's DHS cooling systems.
--
The Widow Company had dropped from orbit feet first into hell exactly how their noble ancestors of the SLDF would have done. Today would be one of remembrance of Clan Wolf. Of Honor, and Glory. The battle was days old by the time they had arrived, no matter, this battle would be the envy of not just their fellow dragoons but of the homeworlds.

The tide had already turned before their planetfall but it was hard to deny that after facing the pathetic carrion machines of the Inner Sphere coming to battle with the technology the golden age of the star league had not been a welcome potential challenge to warriors of the clans... or rather it should have been... they had hardly expected honorable conduct from the usurpers verminous minions, but their skills at battle even in spite of their superior machines had left much to be desired for her company.

Still she would be able to demonstrated their success to the other dragoons and those born in the clans would be green with envy. Natasha Kerensky powered down here Warhammer and brought it to kneel in order to dismount. The eighty five ton assault mech turned away and continued on. Her warbook identified it as a 'Crockett'. The machine's IFF declared it as attached to a command callsigned 'Claymore', a BattleMech Battalion of Highlanders who could trace unbroken descent back to ancient terra apparently. This was apparently also that the Battalion flashed Terran Hegemony IDC codes which her machine had validated out, they were a long way from home of course... but she could hardly fault their pursuit of Amaris's forces into the periphery.

Beyond a Royal Marauder was hull down. Techs crawling over its recently applied high contrast earth tones that her Warhammer registered as SLDF camo appropriate to the planet's arid environment. Kilted highland soldiers, notably carrying Star League standard issue Mauser Laser Rifles stood careful watch at the perimeters, and were manning secondary lines of defenses.

She had taken careful note of the presence of the Marauder II and Bandit, and Badger vehicles including that of the latter the use of their OmniVehicle configurations were being employed. It would have to be included in her report to Colonel Wolf, but she doubted very much that Joshua's brother would mind. The Dragoons' commanding officer would have greater priorities.

"The Colonel wants those tests confirmed." A brogue voice shouted at a cluster of personnel.

The Company support personnel had volunteered their assistance... at her prodding of course... to assist but more to the point to insure they could confirm the test results themselves using star league era computers.

They would have the results soon, or rather confirmation. They had not quite had to wash the many generation descendant of the usurper out of his cockpit. The PPCs the Marauder had pumped into the heavily armored war machine had tipped the gyro as it had attempted to close the distance with its MASC active and as a result the machine had literally stumbled and rolled off the roadway down a hillside and ejected its cockpit as a result of that damage sending the harnessed tainted unnamable into the water.

The initial report suggested the pilot had been dead prior to hitting the water The first round of blood tests against an apparent sample of the Amaris gene line confirmed for someone named 'Dante' that the bastard 'was a direct descendant of Stefan Amaris of the Rim Worlds Republic'. Exact Quote.

She looked expectedly at the Dragoon science caste assisting, tense with anticipation of that confirmation. Descendant of Amaris. Confirmation of that by itself would need to be sent to the clans immediately if not sooner never mind the little details of his death. There was a shuffling ripple through the assembled force as new orders echoed out.

Apparently enough confirmation of the enemy's destruction had been substantiated that units were being retasked to Emergency Relief of the Civilian Populace. A few more miserable minutes passed, and then a green confirmation. "As much as we can be at this point. I would say with relative certainty that it is not a body double, sir." The swarthy rake thin old man declared to his superior. He would have been positively ancient by clan standards, and wore the fatigues and insignia of the SLDF Medical Command, this was apparently the regiment's chief surgeon.

Orangish brown eyes narrowed, then nodded. "Thank you doctor." The man was dismissed to other duties, and the Marauder pilot swung mechanically to face the Dragoon contingent, "Captain Kerensky, I am Colonel Shepherd," The introduction was like watching a historical clip... even though he had to be much younger than she was he sounded like a positive literally centuries old holovid recording of the league officers of old right down to his accent which wouldn't have been out of place from the officers of Exodus. "Should I expect the rest of the Dragoons?"

Unfortunately a Canopian news crew managed to record the whole exchange so it ended up making its way across the periphery over the next several months, and that in turn lead to Battle Rom footage being witnessed by many more watchers besides. That was not immediately the concern of either Mercenary force.
--
Notes: Archon will update tomorrow, I have some untoward things to say about the holiday season, and specifically travel and what not but moving on I wish everyone a happy new years and that 23 will be an improvement with any luck, but forward.

This is the opposite of the Highland Faire alternate this is the teaser for a 'cordial' dragoons introduction this is a teaser set in the early 3020s with some details scrubbed, and was not originally the update I planned but again holiday SNAFU.

 

[Bofors40mm]

well methinks the clanners will want to give the good colonel a bloodline if he killed the last known descendant of the fat man

 

[Imperator Pax]

well methinks the clanners will want to give the good colonel a bloodline if he killed the last known descendant of the fat man

Click to shrink...

oh yeah, there is that. I wasn't thinking about that, but yes this scene also directly relates to what happens in HF11

Spoiler: Ghosts

ROM find copy of Terran Hegemony marked orders amounting to: Kill AMARIS!!

Gene Kills Amaris

ComStar: "hmm thats odd."

WolfNet: "Time to call the homeworlds again"

Also when we get to the Ummayad being introduced both from the IE perspective and from the Azami one in the 3020s which uh the clans might not be happy about there

But yes the whole Amaris Resotration after Black Jack is just one more factor in events that will take place on aquagea, and kimi and other worlds between the Magistracy and the Aurigan Reach

 

[Bofors40mm]

Man poor poor Gene. Between probably killing black jack and a amaris and having a very successful merc unit the man is going to metaphorically speaking every single female between the pentagon cluster and cormodir throwing themselves at him

 

[Imperator Pax]

Main Branch Timeline
January 3018​

Highland Faire 11​

Yvonne Davion paged down through the document as the countess across from her was clearly fighting a losing battle against her growing migraine. All of the documents were clearly marked classified Star League Royal Command. HPG transmission log dates. These were not antique inventory filings of a long gone age.

These had been issued out of a printer on request. The documents contained similar requisition data to what had come out of the Robinson Brian Cache. She had had copies made of the later so that she could highlight the details on those for reference. It authorized a brevet colonel Shepherd to pull the files and print them out.

"There are differences."

Authorization. Authentication.

... "The most likely explanation is that Robinson was assigned to a different area command. Northwind would have been a Hegemony world." but in theory the Brian Cache and whatever facility these had been pulled from would have both been issued under Hegemony postings.

More byzantine alpha numeric designations that they hadn't deciphered the meaning of... and Campbell had been acting weird as well.

"He said the ... security bolts had been blown,"

"Yes, security precautions, the implication is there must be some roundabout way to get to the port... explains their disappearing." Which of course was a security concern for the castle, but far less of a priority than materiel which... "I assume these are incomplete." He referred to Campbell by the rank of Captain, Campbell's official rank was Colonel. He commanded a Highlander Fusiliers regiment in defense of the planet... there was no reason to refer to the older man as captain.

... and there should have been no reason for the highlander to follow it but Alexandria clearly decided not to mention that.

Another anomaly... and one that Kerston, who of course was old enough to have known Campbell since had had still been a captain should have known better.

"They're the files they had available."

And Campbell had not expected to hand them over... at least not when she had appeared. He had looked like he had been about to argue about handing them over. Perhaps later they might have brought the documents forward, but at that moment.

They could reasonably expect that this was unrelated to the sudden Azami appearance... but that was only a small comfort. It also raised further questions about motivation. They had been working off of understanding details that Hegemony officers must have been privy to some sort of highly incriminating information regarding the Combine at the end of the Star league. Admiral Clancy had been an officer of the Terran starfleet... in an era when there had been actual warships.

... and before he had gone into the stasis tube the last reports of the admiral had chronicled significant need to act against the Combine. There had been SLDF personnel who had joined the AFFS and there had been dedicated enemies of the combine. The Fox's Teeth came to mind. The Blue Star Irregulars were technically still Mercenaries... but there were units who had come into the fold.

... and of course that the Azami were showing up that was something to consider. She needed information about what was going on over the Combine border. If this was what it was purported to be a significant migration out of combine territory, as a result of the snakes having begun a significant campaign of either political repression or outright ethnic cleansing then that meant there were Combine units tied up on worlds not immediately on the front line. The question was which units, and which worlds... but even that could be speculated on based on implications in chatter among the Rasalhague movement.

They were still waiting for any indication that there was going to be a general rebellion, or that it was moving in that direction. Any DCMS units tied down outside of the Terran corridor was a tactical advantage to their plans.
--
Gene eased the Marauder into his assigned spot as his speakers piped in the sounds of the street and he watched waving pennants of Tara's main avenue leading to and from the Starport. He had a prime vantage on the wide ferrocrete landing deck, and also of the little stars getting steadily larger and brighter that were dropships inbound.

He could very much have done without the pipers playing March of the Cameron Men as the Highlanders moved to assembly through the streets... but it was their planet... and hopefully it really was just them standing on ceremony coupled with the fatigue catching up with him. What he really needed was a goodnight's sleep.

Not that that wasn't his own fault at least in part. They'd... Gene had made the cadets / the robinson troops more broadly participate in night time excercises.

For all that the Atlas was Iconic of the Star League in popular memory the Highlander was older. So too was the Pillager. The hundred ton assault mech had been in use in the Reunification War and its subsequent 3Z had been buried in warfighting stocks in numbers well in excess of the skull faced monster Kerensky had laid out the specs for. Harlaw looked promising though, but well... the Azami were here, and the Highlanders had put together the reception, and he was expected to be here.

"Conditions in the Combine seem to have potentially reached a breaking point." Which suggested that the loss of the Galedon Regulars under Samsonov at Elidere may have just compromised enough to tip the balance. Or it had just given that impression to units already looking for an opportunity to rebel or escape the combine, something that had given them the one last push they needed...

... but he doubted simply taking Dieron would be enough to force the combine into civil war... Takashi Kurita sounded like a paranoid bastard but the line of succession wasn't unclear. He had a single son, and any succession beyond that would require cousins who simply weren't plugged into the apparatus of power there was no apparent threat of a palace coup at the moment. "We don't that for sure," He replied to Abner's comment. The Lyran was within his Terran Atlas... probably just as much as a status symbol as Lyran Noble as it was for... if this shit went horribly wrong. "But it certainly sounds like the Combine's attention is elsewhere."

"So you'll be going?"

"I was always going, this possibly makes things easier."

"I should be able to help furnish support for the dependents, but IE has a policy of neutrality beyond that. I can't participate in offensive operations... and it can't appear as if we're supporting the conquering power's activities in that."

Legalese for any kind of lostech work that needed to be done on Dieron was going to walk an awful fine line, and potentially set a time frame measures potentially months or even years out. "I know. I've read IE's charter." Abner had insisted he do when he'd taken the first IE job... And was also aware that Abner's colleagues were not always so scrupulous but for the moment there were a lot of eyes. "I'm sure the Azami will appreciate any assistance for their dependents."

"Boss." Septim cut in over the comms as his Merlin piped in. "We've got movement."

Gene glanced at his scopes, telemetry processing the slow steady descent as the DropShips continued on the guide path from Tara's starport. "Clarify?" He asked tapping the computer.

"Not up there, I'm reading units patching into the unit command channel."

He blinked and reached up, initial assumption were light horse units coming onto the parade route to join them. Dante was remote controlling Regimental systems through a Fury so it wasn't unlikely that the AI was folding units into the command network without actively telling him. A quick mental interrogative brought up the postings of the units.

The Eridani while positioned in a respectful position though were marked opposite and farther down. They and the Blue Star irregulars were posted just ahead of a Davion unit that traced its lineage back to the SLDF. Abner was with them.. well he was with them because he had fought at Elidere if the unit was going to be here Abner had earned that right if he wanted to.

A heavy set man with a thick lumberjacks beard and a green SLDF pilot suit handshaked from a Highlander. "Colonel Shepherd, I'm Major MacKay I've been tasked to your command." He only elaborated so far on that before connecting them into a video conference with the one eyed Black Watch Commander.

"I was under the impression you were on Friendly enough terms with the Azami."

"Aye," For a minute he almost expected the old MechWarrior to call him laddie, but the man stopped and nodded, "We are Colonel. No, its not their visit that is the reason. MacKay and his men are under your command for other reasons. Not to just to strike a blow at all blackguard traitors but to provide a core for a highlander detachment you'll assemble for your inevitable search for what happened. I suspect the Azami travelling into the deep periphery should give you what the books calls cover for action."

Gene would have really preferred he not be just told he was being placed in command of a Highlander unit... and especially not in their present situation. They were going to have to have a talk about what this entailed... and then he was going to have to explain this to Field Marshal Davion

Within the Davion Command Center the Prince's Champion glanced at her staff intelligence officer, as the signals changed. Shepherd's Company featured a fairly bland unit insignia on its MRB page a symetrical Cameronian starburst set on green flanked by gray. It was an emblem that only appeared in the MRB file likely having been submitted at the request of ComStar but to the best of her recollection the closest she could recall was the roundel which was gray white painted on the the wings of the DropShips Sam Houston, and San Saba. She suspected that the lack of pilots for the ASF they had inventory, that would of course now had pilots might receive the roundels but that was a very recent change.

"Ma'am."

"I see it." She resisted throwing a suspicious look at the any one of the plaentary officials. Apparently someone thought it would be funny to redesignate Shepherd's Company as a Highlander Regiment. It had been added to the rolls of units, but also it reflected where the unit had been placed on the parade route near the front. "Get me the Colonel's Marauder." She ordered prompting a sharpish nod from the junior officer who moved quickly.

A voice cracked over, "One moment Dante," A Highlander's voice fell silent in the background, "yes Field Marshal?"

"Commander Shepherd have you spoken with the planetary authorities."

"I just finished with the colonel of the regiment," Which was a fancy distinction of honor that really was equivalent to adjuntant general commanding the planetary militia, "apparently seeing fit to inform me of dispensation to hire and recruit from Northwind. Its not a paper arrangement."

"This relates to the facility at Harlech I assume."

"Yes ma'am." He replied.

There was a cough, "Your grace, the dropships are preparing to touch down." The bagpipes swelled in their playing through the speakers. A few minutes later, "They're on the ground starport control is finishing safety checks," and finally those checks finished with dispensation that they could disembark and make their way down.

It was only a limitted procession. The welcoming comittee completely dwarfed the small contingent that was cleared to make the trip, but they were late to the Highland Faire and were getting a cordial demonstration of hospitality, but also a demonstration of probably just how important punctuality was supposed to be.

Inside his cockpit Gene leaned back as he confirmed the receipt as they started those down process blowing off the safety foam, and double checked that he was radio dark again. He sighed parsing through the tasking. This would have been highly irregular even in the Star League, Dante even though he was going along with this... might even potentially be encouraging it had cosigned the packet. It was not...

... technically speaking the Black Watch remnant had amended the last orders issued by Colonel Schmitt with mission critical information... that was to say that despite the Hegemony being gone, the League being gone, and only a very very narrow lead as by all indications ranking Hegomony officer he was supposed to locate and relay orders... ideally they wanted him to find where the Cameron twins had been shiped off to find what had happened... dream of dreams find the Terran Hegemony in Exile and restore the golden age of the Star League

No Pressure.

He wasn't sure ... Hanzo was game, Septim seemed prepared for what they were going to do, Bahar and the Azami were signed on... but how exactly was he supposed to let the others know. Bubbles, and Beau didn't know, and that couldn't be sustained.

Regardless of whether or not that the tasking orders were slated to allow him to fill out mech and armor, and infantry from Northwind.

--
Notes: Update schedule remainder of week, tentative, this is going up early (obviously) Saturday's update is of course per standard AH thread update of the chian warlord thread, I need to respond to some questions for that. I plan though it is not definitive to update Sufficently Advanced Magic, my percy jackson jump (in my jumpchain thread), and the 2nd​ Luxen (that will probably end up being sunday) with the arrival at Pioche and smilodons.

Anyway moving on, this is the set up for the big expansion of the company with the clear introduction of the begnining of Claymore and Bardiche following.

 

[Bofors40mm]

man the stuff gene is providing is of such quality and importance that he might end up hitched to one of yvvone's daughters. or another female davion. like seriously this level of information is going to either result in him being a duke of a decently important planet or even a very important planet/wed to the heiress of one that one of the branches of the davion's hold . or both. i mean seriously this stuff is so important that if this was 27 or so years down the line he'd be engaged to katherine

 

[Imperator Pax]

man the stuff gene is providing is of such quality and importance that he might end up hitched to one of yvvone's daughters. or another female davion. like seriously this level of information is going to either result in him being a duke of a decently important planet or even a very important planet/wed to the heiress of one that one of the branches of the davion's hold . or both. i mean seriously this stuff is so important that if this was 27 or so years down the line he'd be engaged to katherine

Click to shrink...

I Just realized from checking sarna that Jackson (born 3000) is only Kamea Arano's age, for some reason I had been thinking he was Hanse's age

Yvonne has seven children in the AFFS apparently geez.

Its a good thing Dieron is going to need a noble once its out of military governorship in a few years.

 

[Bofors40mm]

I Just realized from checking sarna that Jackson (born 3000) is only Kamea Arano's age, for some reason I had been thinking he was Hanse's age

Yvonne has seven children in the AFFS apparently geez.

Its a good thing Dieron is going to need a noble once its out of military governorship in a few years.

Click to shrink...

well that or a world like tikonov a few years down the line. because with the kit and supplies that info is providing I foresee the suns being able to crusis death ball that planet much earlier than canon. well that and/or go take ares aka one of the few capcon yards left and one that in the present era makes danais, unions, and overlords plus the planet also makes assorted quickscell products including manticores and Bergen Industries makes the locust there. Also yes Jackson Davion got promoted stupidly fast all things considered albeit that was partially due to the fact that he's actually a pretty godamm good commander on both the admin and field side of things.

 

[Wargamer08]

Man I like seeing Pillagers. I love the mech to pieces, it's a jumping 100 ton mech with a coherent weapon loadout and great armor. It even looks mean.

 

[Bofors40mm]

Man I like seeing Pillagers. I love the mech to pieces, it's a jumping 100 ton mech with a coherent weapon loadout and great armor. It even looks mean.

Click to shrink...

well the st. ives plant for them is merely mothballed and not destroyed. it just needs the lostech inputs and a trained workforce. why it wasn't retooled to the lower tech variant is something that's literally considered curious on the mech's sarna page

 

[Wargamer08]

well the st. ives plant for them is merely mothballed and not destroyed. it just needs the lostech inputs and a trained workforce. why it wasn't retooled to the lower tech variant is something that's literally considered curious on the mech's sarna page

Click to shrink...

The mech is built around the XL and center line gauss rifles. It would be a pretty hefty redesign.

 

[Bofors40mm]

The mech is built around the XL and center line gauss rifles. It would be a pretty hefty redesign.

Click to shrink...

not really. there's a pre existing introtech variant.

 

[Imperator Pax]

Bofors is right there is the reunification war variant which is what makes it odd that no one went back to that.

Indeed will be touched on in both HF12 and 13the Hegemony never throws away anything and who doesn't like a VLAR 300 assault mech with two AC 20s.

and that standard engine is important

 

[Bofors40mm]

mind you I'd axe the existing secondary weapons on that mech and axe the jump jets as well since a 60 meter jump isn't very useful at all certainly not compared to a 90 meter one and add twin large lasers and thus get a platform not screwed at longer ranges or when the ammo runs out
something like this

Spoiler: Pillager PLG-1D

Pillager PLG-1D
Base Tech Level: Introductory (IS)

Level	Era
Experimental	-
Advanced	-
Standard	3025+

Tech Rating: D/X-E-D-D

Weight: 100 tons
BV: 1,806
Cost: 9,456,000 C-bills
Source: TRO 3058 - Star League

Movement: 3/5
Engine: 300 Fusion
Heat Sinks: 16
Gyro: Standard Gyro

Internal: 152
Armor: 272/307

	Internal	Armor
Head	3	9
Center Torso	31	38
Center Torso (rear)		17
Right Torso	21	26
Right Torso (rear)		11
Left Torso	21	26
Left Torso (rear)		11
Right Arm	17	30
Left Arm	17	30
Right Leg	21	37
Left Leg	21	37

Weapons	Loc	Heat
AC/20	LT	7
AC/20	RT	7
Large Laser	RA	8
Large Laser	LA	8

Ammo	Loc	Shots
AC/20 Ammo	LT	5
AC/20 Ammo	LT	5
AC/20 Ammo	RT	5
AC/20 Ammo	RT	5

 

[Imperator Pax]

mind you I'd axe the existing secondary weapons on that mech and axe the jump jets as well since a 60 meter jump isn't very useful at all certainly not compared to a 90 meter one and add twin large lasers and thus get a platform not screwed at longer ranges or when the ammo runs out
something like this

Spoiler: Pillager PLG-1D

Pillager PLG-1D
Base Tech Level: Introductory (IS)

Level	Era
Experimental	-
Advanced	-
Standard	3025+

Tech Rating: D/X-E-D-D

Weight: 100 tons
BV: 1,806
Cost: 9,456,000 C-bills
Source: TRO 3058 - Star League

Movement: 3/5
Engine: 300 Fusion
Heat Sinks: 16
Gyro: Standard Gyro

Internal: 152
Armor: 272/307

	Internal	Armor
Head	3	9
Center Torso	31	38
Center Torso (rear)		17
Right Torso	21	26
Right Torso (rear)		11
Left Torso	21	26
Left Torso (rear)		11
Right Arm	17	30
Left Arm	17	30
Right Leg	21	37
Left Leg	21	37

Weapons	Loc	Heat
AC/20	LT	7
AC/20	RT	7
Large Laser	RA	8
Large Laser	LA	8

Ammo	Loc	Shots
AC/20 Ammo	LT	5
AC/20 Ammo	LT	5
AC/20 Ammo	RT	5
AC/20 Ammo	RT	5

Click to shrink...

AH you know me so well. This is very similar to what The Pillager Davion that will show up with the exception of certain features that I would have to spoil for that come into play after Dieron

 

[Bofors40mm]

Hoenstly though the pillager is the sort of mech I'd have a 2nd variant for once lostech/clan inspired tech is available. One inspired by reunification wars Variant. ie a mech rocking twin LBX-20s as the core of its Armament. Well that and do a slight redesign in general for main variant since among other things it's over sinked in its primary form

 

[Imperator Pax]

Hoenstly though the pillager is the sort of mech I'd have a 2nd variant for once lostech/clan inspired tech is available. One inspired by reunification wars Variant. ie a mech rocking twin LBX-20s as the core of its Armament. Well that and do a slight redesign in general for main variant since among other things it's over sinked in its primary form

Click to shrink...

LBXs are unfortunately still a ways off.

It'll be 10s, 5s, and then the others but that will still be in the 3020s before new productin 10s are running, but yeah that is an idea

Spoiler: Black Boxes

No in this case, the alternate version I have in mind deals with some loot, and the engines

Spoiler: Engines

Now admittedly you get ten free (weight free) heat sinks in an engine, and the 300 series has free space for 12 heat sinks

Spoiler: production

While Gene won't be producing whole mechs any time soon, one of the pieces of loot that show up coming out of the fortress dieron depot is a black box engine Machine (and this has been planned for a while) that makes VLAR300 (standard engines) pre configured with DHS

21 tons total, because its the engine and two additional double heat sinks, which means yeah if you're alpha striking every five seconds [with AC20s and Large Lasers] you'll build up heat, but overall you're saving four tons just with the engine change over, and thats an engine you have the machinery to build new ones in going into the 3020s

 

[Bofors40mm]

Well methinks the suns are going to be going ham on Marauder II, Maraduer, Atlas, and if they can get Northwind working again King Crab production then. Well that seeing if they can use the plans for the devastator and titan that they canonically found on Hoff in 3023 and the same goes for a license for the black knight which they got in otl and push hard for ones for the orion, ostroc, and ostsol.

 

[Imperator Pax]

Well methinks the suns are going to be going ham on Marauder II, Maraduer, Atlas, and if they can get Northwind working again King Crab production then. Well that seeing if they can use the plans for the devastator and titan that they canonically found on Hoff in 3023 and the same goes for a license for the black knight which they got in otl and push hard for ones for the orion, ostroc, and ostsol.

Click to shrink...

And also a number of ASF that use 300 series engines

the Azami producing the Eagle as the Altair once production ramps up as the 3rd succession war comes to its end

 

[Bofors40mm]

And also a number of ASF that use 300 series engines

the Azami producing the Eagle as the Altair once production ramps up as the 3rd succession war comes to its end

Click to shrink...

and the suns also make the stuka, eagle, and thunderbird themselves, and for that matter the lyrans make a lot of FE 300 designs once that alliance gets solidified. pity I assume demand will be massively in excess of supply. also how does that machine make DHS without needing Zero G for the endosteel bit that's needed for proper DHS?

 

[Imperator Pax]

and the suns also make the stuka, eagle, and thunderbird themselves, and for that matter the lyrans make a lot of FE 300 designs once that alliance gets solidified. pity I assume demand will be massively in excess of supply. also how does that machine make DHS without needing Zero G for the endosteel bit that's needed for proper DHS?

Click to shrink...

Demand always outstrips supply for engines, like that is probably the endemic problem or lesson of industrial warfare thats exactly the case here The basic explanation on the endosteel is we know the hegemony had the ability to manufacture endosteel on planet's surface but the implication in canon (and here) is that in order to do it in volume you need zero gee facilities, so certainly for chassis manufacture, but there was ground side endo steel production (they just tended to eat nukes during the first succession war). [and thats the in universe explanation, the out of universe explanation is that originally endo steel locations were probably described before BattleTech changed the tech rules to try and make them as needing Zero-G facilities]

Spoiler: Snippet

Industry
A castle Brian was designed to maintain and rebuild the brigades within it. Sustainment of those units was key to insuring that a unit could weather a threatening enemy invasion and be prepared to counter attack once relief from the Hegemony arrived. It was part of a strategy to insure enemy forces were spread out or tied down on a planet and thus slow an incursion.

To that end there was a lot of complex machinery that was allocated to a Castle complex. That wasn't to say the average facility was intended to mass produce wholly new machines. There were exceptions but the program was more to rebuild and replace parts quickly. Construction of new mechs wasn't the usual objective. Myomer extrusion, onsite armor manufacturing, spare parts fabrication, and making weapons were all on a list of things. Given enough time a stocked castle brian could potentially turn out through its machine shops a machine from scratch, but that wasn't what they were intended to do.

That didn't mean a castle wasn't about the ideal staging location to transport the heavy machinery necessary for complex construction taskes. The black box blocks of sealed machinery could be inocuously itemized and kept from prying eyes and who would have any idea what they were when sitting in depot.

"Do you know what this is?"

"Its part of a Marauder production line." He replied. "Automated Engine factory," Designed to build DHS into the engine. "VLAR 300."

The Azami half turned, apparently he hadn't gotten that far only recognizing that the machine was some kind of black box facility. "Of course, what do you want done with it?"

To finish cataloging but this was going to need to be packed in dry storage and secured in a DropShip hull... he paused, "Earmark it, run a diagnostic, and check to see what needs to be done to configure it."

"And?"

"Once you familiarize yourself with it, run the precursor materials into it, and then see if it works as it is supposed to." They were standard 19 ton fusion engines, the integrated production of heatsinks though might allow them to free space in machines like Septim's Merlin Cavalry. A fusion engine was the heart of a battlemech or an ASF for that matter.

"Should I mount it in the Atlas once complete?" The tech seemed confident that the Machine would work as it was intended. He acknowledged that that would be fine, and resumed reading the Terran Hegemony Materiel's Command documentation trying to wrap his head around how this magic box even worked.

There was also a Gundam joke I'd make, but that (in terms of EndoSteel manufacture) will be used in Essence where Odin code names his endosteel manufacturing as Gundamnium. And of course one could also use something like a Behemoth or the Argo or an equivalent to Hephaestus Station if you wanted to adhere more to current canon of needing Zero G

 

[Bofors40mm]

So between all the stuff Gene has found thus far by my reckoning it's probably enough kit for the AFFS to bring a good half dozen battered mech regiments back up to strength and establish 2 RCTs and bring back othets up to strength a few others with the only exception as always being the dropships and jumpships.Actually that reminds me of a good idea to win points with the Draconis March. Bring back the Tancredi loyalist brigade but as LCTs as the only new units made with the kit. As for why LCTs they're big thing was raiding/behind the lines actions and usually they didn't operate in more than battalion sized detachments anyways so a LCT fits their old style anyways.